The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) Ministry of Energy will launch late April the first phase of a new global oil and gas database project, aiming to develop an easy-to-use tool to analyze energy information and allow for more transparency, Gulf News reported.

The Oil and Gas Big Data Project “will consist of a set of high standard analytic tools, employing data-driven approaches, optimization and statistical analysis techniques,” Times of Oman informed, citing OPEC’s statement.

As OPEC further explained, the project will be linked to publicly available oil market databases and will cross-compare information between different countries, flows and products, and will be expanded in the future.

Accurate and timely information on oil supply, demand and inventories is key for the oil market to analyze future trends. A lack of reliable data on production and consumption of crude oil and refined fuels in many emerging markets is often an obstacle to do so and could contribute to oil price volatility.